India vice-captain Tilak Varma suffered an unusual run-out during the third T20I against the West Indies at Indore’s Holkar Stadium on Sunday, October 11.
The incident took place on the fourth delivery of the 17th over. Motie bowled a low full toss on the pads, which Axar flicked towards deep backward square leg. West Indies fielder Kamil Pooran dived to stop the ball from reaching the boundary, but both Indian batters appeared to believe that it had crossed the rope.
As Axar and Tilak Varma began walking towards their respective ends without urgency, Motie collected the return throw and broke the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Axar managed to make his ground, but Varma was caught well short of his crease.
🔴 TILAK VARMA FORGOT TO USE HIS PRESENCE OF MIND 🤦
– Axar Patel smashed the ball towards the boundary, but a WI fielder collected it & threw it towards the wicketkeeper.
– Axar escaped a run-out by just inches.
– Meanwhile, Tilak Varma thought the ball was dead & casually started walking on the pitch.
– But the WI player was alert and ran Tilak out! 🤯What a brain-fade moment! 😭
— Sam (@cricsam02) October 11, 2026
The third umpire subsequently confirmed that Pooran had kept the ball in play. Head coach Gautam Gambhir appeared visibly frustrated in the dugout.
Led by Shreyas Iyer, India successfully defended their total of 223 runs, securing a 14-run victory and taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
After being put in to bat, India relied on an explosive 69 off just 30 deliveries from Abhishek Sharma to post a challenging total. The bowlers then held their nerve to prevent the visitors from completing another successful run chase.